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Tuesday, June 09, 2015

Former U.S. Army Specialist Pleads Guilty to Taking a Bribe While Deployed in Afghanistan

A former specialist with the U.S. Army pleaded guilty to
accepting a bribe from an Afghan truck driver at Forward Operating Base Gardez,
Afghanistan (FOB Gardez), in exchange for allowing the driver to take thousands
of gallons of fuel from the base for resale on the black market.Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell
of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Michael J.
Moore of the Middle District of Georgia made the announcement.

Anthony Don Tran, 28, of Stockton, California, pleaded
guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Beth L. Freeman of the Northern
District of California to one count of bribery of a public official.

According to admissions made in conjunction with his guilty
plea, in exchange for $20,000 in cash, Tran permitted a local Afghan fuel truck
to depart FOB Gardez without downloading roughly 12,000 gallons of fuel
purchased by the U.S. government and designated for the base.Tran admitted that, on May 21, 2013, after
returning from deployment, he purchased a 2010 Dodge Challenger with the cash
derived from the bribe.

In addition, Tran admitted to accepting at least $1,000 in
cash from two other members of his unit, U.S. Army sergeants James Edward
Norris and Seneca Hampton, in exchange for Tran agreeing not to report them for
also taking bribes for fuel.Both Norris
and Hampton previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme.On May 21, 2015, Norris was sentenced to
serve 51 months in prison.Hampton is
scheduled to be sentenced on July 28, 2015.

Pursuant to his plea agreement, Tran agreed to forfeit the
proceeds he received from the bribery scheme as well as to pay full
restitution.Sentencing has been
scheduled for Sept. 22, 2015.

The case is being investigated by the U.S. Army Criminal
Investigation Command, the Office of the Special Inspector General for
Afghanistan Reconstruction, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the
Defense Contract Audit Agency, Investigative Support Division.The case is being prosecuted by Trial
Attorneys John Keller and Sean Mulryne of the Criminal Division’s Public
Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Solis and Danial Bennett
of the Middle District of Georgia.